Win Pe (b. 1935) Water FestivalPROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF PROFESSOR JOSEF SILVERSTEIN AND MARILYN COOPER SILVERSTEINWin Pe (b. 1935)Water Festival 1961signedoil on canvas60.3 by 120.7 cm.23 3/4 by 47 1/2 in.ProvenanceAcquired directly from the artistPrivate Collection of Professor Josef Silverstein (1922-2021) and Marilyn Cooper Silverstein (1930-2021)Thence by descent to the present ownerWin Pe潑水節 1961年作 簽名：WIN PE（左下） 油彩畫布 來源 藏家直接購自藝術家本人 Josef Silverstein教授和Marilyn Cooper Silverstein私人收藏 現藏家繼承自上述來源Professor Josef Silverstein (1922-2021) and his wife Mrs Marilyn Cooper Silverstein (1930-2021) began collecting works of art on their first visit to Burma1 as a young academic couple in 1955. They went on to become good friends and supporters of three leading artists in Myanmar's modern art movement in the 1960s: Paw Oo Thet (1936-1993), Win Pe (b. 1935), and Aung Khin (1921-1996). The Silverstein Collection contains these artists' early works, which are rarely seen at auction. A renowned Myanmar expert, Professor Silverstein devoted his career as a scholar to Myanmar before retiring as a Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA. He authored and edited several influential books on Myanmar, including The Political Legacy of Aung San; Burmese Politics: The Dilemma of National Unity; and Burma: Military Rule on the Politics of Stagnation. The Josef Silverstein Papers (1944-2002), his professional papers and research collection, are now housed in Cornell University's Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections in Ithaca, New York. Between 1970 and 1972, Professor Silverstein served as the third director of Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, now known as ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute. He laid the foundations for the Institute and worked closely with Dr Goh Keng Swee and David Marshall to establish the Institute as one of the first Southeast Asian research centres dedicated to the study of the region. Lot 10 - 12"Modern Art is neither Cubism nor Impressionism. Modernism is a concept of thinking, conviction, and ideas; 'isms' are just branches of trees, not even a stem." –Win PeOne of Myanmar's most celebrated living artists, Win Pe was born into an art-loving family in Mandalay. Together with his close friend Paw Oo Thet, he studied under the tutelage of Ba Thet and Kin Maung (Bank) and played a pivotal role in Myanmar's modernist movement in the 1960s. A highly versatile and gifted artist, Win Pe dons many hats. Besides being a painter, he is also a cartoonist, journalist, radio broadcaster, writer, and film director. He helmed the State School of Fine Arts, Music, and Dance in Mandalay from 1966 to 1970. Moreover, his film Dream of a Red Rose (1980) earned him a Myanmar Academy Award for best director. He emigrated to the United States in 1994 but returned to Myanmar in 2015. As one of the last living members of the second-generation modern artists in Myanmar, Win Pe's art has borne witness to the country's social and political change for more than half a century. The Silversteins befriended Win Pe and Paw Oo Thet at a time when the two artists were eager to learn about the West. Win Pe was one of Professor Josef Silverstein's students at Mandalay University. Although the Silversteins were not wealthy collectors, they encouraged and supported Win Pe and Paw Oo Thet by buying these two artists' works and sharing with them their love for the arts and music. Lot 10 Water Festival, for instance, first existed as a poster roughly drawn by Win Pe in Mandalay in 1961. But because the Silversteins admired the original drawing very much, Win Pe reworked it into an oil painting. The work portrays a lively scene of local festival and performance; interestingly, its focal point is a traditional long drum from Shan State in northeast Myanmar. In this painting, Win Pe applies expressive brushwork and vibrant palette to create a sense of rhythmic movement, bringing the spinning water droplets to life through his brilliant, virtuosic painting technique. During their stay in Myanmar, the Silversteins enjoyed exploring the local markets for their sumptuous offerings of food, spices, and handicrafts. For this reason, Win Pe's Strawberry Seller (Lot 11) was especially resonant with them, and the work had been hanging in the dining room of their home in America for over sixty years. Win Pe's art often brims with delightful storytelling quality. Strawberry Seller can be enjoyed like a visual story, in which a charming local street scene springs to life. On their brief trip to Burma (Myanmar) in 1971, the Silversteins acquired Lot 12 Hintha from Win Pe. The mythical Hintha bird has a rich literary and artistic history in Myanmar. With the power to see both the future and the past, it is associated with the spiritual ability to break free from our mortal earth and to fly into the realm of the Buddha. In this colourful painting imbued with symbolism, the Hintha bird is depicted carrying baby birds as well as straddling day and night—the Silversteins viewed it as the artist's optimistic statement about Myanmar's hopeful future. The energy and beauty of Win Pe's paintings embody his appreciation of the culture and the people of his homeland. Lot 10 Water Festival, Lot 11 Strawberry Seller, and Lot 12 Hintha all demonstrate Win Pe's unique visual language forged by a dynamic blend of Western art techniques and Myanmar stories. More importantly, they also exemplify Win Pe's idea of modernity as the liberty to think freely and to create art with one's own concept and conviction. 1. Myanmar was previously known as Burma from the period under British control until 1989.